No Vital Records? No Problem.
Genealogists and family tree hobbyists often rely on vital records to put the pieces of their historical puzzles together. But what happens when a vital record is missing or simply not available? Does the quest stop there? It doesn’t have to as long as you know where to look and what resources can help fill in the blanks.
For starters, state, local and federal governments offer a wealth of information. Census data, land and property records and similar documentation can often provide little details to help you understand where to look next or possibly who to contact. State censuses, for example, can give you a heads up as to whether your ancestors moved (in between censuses); while earlier federal censuses tell how many years a couple was married and whether or not it was a first or second marriage. In addition, federal censuses provide details on births for everyone in the census including month, year, state and country of birth and the state or country where an individual’s parents were born. Check with state libraries on obtaining copies of state-level census reports. For federal census data, check with the U.S Census Bureau or the National Archives. When an official marriage certificate is not available, try looking at land and property records, military pension papers and emigration and naturalization records.
Newspapers are also a great place to check. Specifically, look for data provided in obituaries, birth, engagement, marriage and anniversary announcements and also local articles that tell a bit of history about a person or place. You’d be surprised what can be pulled directly from a newspaper search. Google offers a handy news archive search. The Library of Congress maintains one of the most extensive newspaper collections in the world, with over 9,000 U.S. newspaper titles and 25,000 non-US newspaper titles. You might also consider visiting a local Family History Center. And finally, there is the U.S. Newspaper Program, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. They have worked to locate, catalog, and centralize newspapers published in the U.S. from the eighteenth century to current day. Their national database is maintained by the Online Computer Library Center and can be accessed through the free FirstSearch service at thousands of participating libraries across the United States.
Yet another place to look is biographical indexes and databases, which contain vital information on people living in the 20th century. The most well-known example is Who’s Who in America. Various state and university libraries also have databases of information available. At the very least you’ll find the Biography and Genealogy Master Index CD-ROM extremely beneficial. You can typically find these at libraries, order one via Amazon or pick one up at your local bookstore.
I mentioned military pension records earlier in the post, but you also access service records for those who took part at one time or another in a U.S. war (through the Spanish American War). These records are available at the National Archives and all field branches, state and university libraries and also genealogical record repositories. Check the Consolidated Index of Confederate Veterans and the National Personnel Records Center for those who participated in World Wars I and II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Schools and universities also keep detailed records on their students, alumni and faculty. Within these transcripts are the names of parents, emergency contacts, addresses, phone numbers and so on. And yet another source to check is employment records. The federal government keeps archives of all civilian employees, while other employment records can be obtained through the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections found at the Library of Congress and other major libraries.
So these are the substitutes for “living” docs, but what about death records? If those are unavailable who you gonna call? (Yes, sadly, I was headed in the direction of Ghostbusters.) Seriously, the following can often be used in place of officially death records: coroner’s reports, obituaries, probate and court records, funeral home archives, social security death index, census mortality records and cemetery files/databases.
No vital records? No problem. Start your search today!